Arnco-Sargent opens time capsule buried by students in 1987

In November of 1987, students at Arnco-Sargent Elementary School recorded predictions about their futures – from spouses to career choices – on a cassette tape and bundled it into a time capsule.

A photograph of the entire student body, a school tour videotape and several Polaroid photos also were selected for inclusion in the dated items. Faculty and students buried the items in a time capsule on school grounds, vowing to unearth it a quarter of a century later.

Few of the students’ predictions likely came to pass but the school stayed the course, marking the 25th anniversary of the time capsule’s creation with a celebration attended by some of the Arnco-Sargent group who originally helped bury it.

Guest speakers at the celebration included Christopher Hogan, the 1987 Student of the Year; Beth Shepard, a retired teacher who was at Arnco-Sargent when the time capsule was buried; Alice Bass, a Coweta County School teacher who was Lead Teacher at Arnco-Sargent in 1987; and Debra Tarleton, a retired school system employee who was instrumental in completing the videotape production in 1987.

Artifacts from the time capsule were displayed in the school cafeteria, where current and former students, parents, administrators and visitors could see a slice of school life from that era.

In addition to the speakers, the 2012 Arnco-Sargent Elementary Chorus performed, along with the Arnco-Sargent Action team, which performed a dance to a song that was popular in 1987. The crowd of around 300 was led in a flag ceremony by Boy Scout Pack 145.

After the ceremony, guests were invited to tour the school, watch the video and enjoy refreshments in the school cafeteria.

Current students at Arnco-Sargent will bury Time Capsule No. 2 – to be opened in 2037 – on Nov. 30.